Welcome back to our weekly update that highlights some of the cases appearing on 311 in the North End/Waterfront neighborhoods. All 311 cases are public information and can be found at 311.boston.gov.

North End Dog Droppings

“The dog poop in the north end is out of control! Sheafe Street, the bottom of Hanover and North Street are the biggest violators. The people of the north end want fines for leaving dog excrement on the sidewalks! There’s even an Instagram now called NorthEnd_ poop_snoops where people submit photos of our disgusting streets. There are so many restaurants and businesses that would happily give a bag of dog owners accidentally forgot. Enough is enough.”

Dog Droppings in the North End

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The original 311 post can be found here. This case was submitted and opened on December 27th, 2017. The case is still currently open as of December 27th, 2017.

North Washington Street Bridge Barricades

“When will the barricades blocking the right lane on the North Washington St Bridge be removed? The traffic there is terrible all day long. Rush hour is the worst. What are they doing and for how long will it go on? How about putting your response in the Charlestown bridge news paper. (That is the real name of the newspaper by the way).”

The original 311 post can be found here. This case was submitted and opened on December 21st, 2017. The case was resolved on December 22nd, 2017 with the following message: “Closed with status: Case Noted. We apologize for your inconvenience due to the temporary closure of one of the two outbound lanes into Charlestown on the North Washington Street Bridge. Due to recently identified structural safety concerns, the BPWD had started an emergency repair effort on the Bridge. The required repair is very extensive and therefore also prompted the temporary closure of the outside lane to cordon off the area with many problematic members. Unseen from the surface, these steel repairs has been performed below the bridge deck since the 3rd weekend in November, and is projected to go on at least to the end of February to mid-March 2018. During the winter, it is very challenging and time consuming to perform these repairs. The construction project to replace this bridge has been advertised and the bids are to be opened in January 2018. We are extremely excited about the new bridge project, since it is our mission and utmost goal to provide Bostonian a safe and pleasant travel experience. Thanks for letting us know of your frustrations!”

Clark Street Trash

“Lots of trash out in the North End seems no one got the memo.”

The original 311 post can be found here. This case was submitted and opened on December 25th, 2017. The case was resolved on December 26th, 2017 with the following message: “Closed with status: Case Noted. No violation found at this time.”

Remember, to report a claim with 311, you can call 311, go to the 311 website, tweet at 311, or download the app. What do you think about these 311 cases? Follow our “What’s The 311?” tag to see past week’s postings!

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37 COMMENTS

Sam. Did you get a ticket for putting your trash out at the wrong time?
People photograph trash because they care about the neighborhood,
because they do not want a 24/7 rat buffet on every street,
because contrary to the belief of many people the magic trash fairy does not swoop in when they put trash out whenever they feel like it,
because the neighborhood will look like a slum with all the trash, dog poop, rats and filthy streets
the North End depends on tourists and it is bad for business

James: I am in agreement with you. Inappropriate remarks seem to taint this paper’s dignity. Some people need to vent their anger, but the comments are quite offensive at times and not related to the article in any way.

Kudos Joyce, So well said & so truthful. The City has not stepped up to the plate. Anyone who can afford
to own property in the City of Boston can afford a Camera, especially Absentee Landlords who can see for
themselves who the culprits are. Imagine a Landlord getting a $500. Trash Ticket, not on their Real Estate Taxes,
but issued like a Parking Ticket & if they don’t pay it, the Fine is increased. Dog Crap, Improper Trash, etc.
can all be cured if the City increases the Fines. People only get away with what you ALLOW them to get
away with, Plain & Simple. Why the City doesn’t get this, is beyond me. There must be some method to
their MADNESS that we don’t know about.

Joan of Arc – perhaps a larger fine will get the attention of landlords or irresponsible dog owners – IF – you can find them. I’m not sure how you track down a dog owner who hasn’t cleaned up after there pet. Unfortunately, as far as I know, there isn’t a DNA data base for dogs at City Hall. And trying to get people to agree on how to resolve the trash or the dog poop issue is like discussing religion or politics –everyone has their own beliefs and they will not be swayed. Offenders in either category will continue to offend because they don’t think rules apply to them. Some people are responsible and care about the neighborhood. and some people feel entitled or just don’t give a crap…those are the ones who don’t pick up the poop, or would rather see trash blowing around the streets, because they’re too lazy to think about how it might effect neighborhood.

That is where the mandatory cameras come into play Tina.B. If it wasn’t for the cameras outside of Lord & Taylor
we might never know who the terrorist were. Cameras are going to play a big part in controlling dog crap &
trash violators. It has to be much better than what we have now. N O T H I N G.

yes the ones who violate that rule.
I have two dogs and pay a small fortune to buy biogradable poop bags not the white bags from stop&shop and I dispose of it in the trash barrels on cross and n.
washington st

JOAN OF ARC
How are camaras going to play a roll in controlling dog crap?
The owner lets there dog crap on our sidewalks then keeps on walking even if the camera picks up
the scene how do we locate the owners?

yes the ones who violate that rule.
I have two dogs and pay a small fortune to buy biogradable poop bags not the white bags from stop&shop and I dispose of it in the trash barrels on cross and n.
washington st

Tracking down people who don’t pick up after their dogs isn’t the same priority as tracking down murders. Making dog walkers carry visible dog scoop bags. Forcing dog owners to carry the means to clean up and assuming those that don’t visibly display their bags are the violators. Make dog owners responsible for cleaning their mess, not the rest of society responsible for monitoring them.

The City is not going to pay, the Landlords that are cashing in on their properties will have to pay. The City’s
job is going to be to force Landlords to have Cameras on their properties to possibly determine who
is putting out Trash improperly, or who is not picking up after their dogs. This is not Rocket Science.
I don’t see why everyone is getting crazy over the suggestion. It is not that expensive & you don’t have to
pay a monthly fee. What is the problem? I believe seeing is believing & the Camera lets Landlords know
who is causing the problems. The Landlords can more than afford the cameras with the rents they are
charging. The Landlord writes it off as an expense, like Water, Electricity or Gas, etc.

Good security cameras are expensive. Cheap Home Depot security cameras are worthless, as some that we have seen here, you can’t make out who the person is. Also since many of these are done under the cover of darkness, the area must be well lit otherwise you are looking at silhouette. Having had my bicycle stollen and caught on camera, all I could see is that the guy appeared to be black. This was done in broad daylight, if it had been done at night, all you would know is some one wearing a baseball cap. These units store a 24 hour loop, so you have to sit and watch the video awaiting the violation. If you find the needle in the haystack, then what? Call a cop and ask him to come see the video with you? As annoying and selfish and disgusting as this act is, law enforcement has better things to than clean your sidewalk.

One place where I own a home deploys mit dispensers and buckets along the sidewalks. Although it is not a 100% solution, some people are just too lazy, it has made a difference. However, people don’t stock these and empty the buckets for free, we pay extra for the desired rresults.

Just read your comment and it annoyed me . What a derogatory attitude…..if it were night, all you’d see is a baseball cap. What was the point? Making a joke? We know what you are saying…..it did NOT have to be said.. Your comments really annoy me. That is an insult to black people. You made your point, and you are nasty.

How was what she said an insult to black people? She was just pointing out that the quality of the camera was so poor that she could only make out the race of the culprit. Have we come to a point in society that we need to leave facts out of a story in order to not offend people.

What she said was relevant to the story and was no way offensive. You need to be more rationale.

with some camera’s quality will only show shadow or silohette at night if it isn’t equipped with night vision. you wouldn’t be able to tell if the person was black or white. in that comment if it were night time all you would know is only someone wearing a baseball cap. you sound like the racist

T. Mobile is a woman? Who knew? Her comments, in general , are sarcastic and seems to be an angry person.
What she said was offensive. A wiseacre crack about black people. If it were night all you’d see is a baseball cap????? So, black people are as dark as night and invisible when it is dark. She’ll get away with it…..bec. that’s the way it goes here in the NE.

I do not know t mobile. I guess I should not have assumed that t mobile is a woman. It was a mistake however it has very little to do with the point being made.

Her comment did nothing but give you a clear description of the quality of camera. It shed light on the importance of a good quality camera. It was based on a fact and experience not some made up notion. It in no way made fun of people with darker complexion. I’m sorry but your comments on this thread have been nothing but inflammatory.

what about the landlords that do the right thing with the trash. I’m the only building on my street with trash bins and recycle bins. everyone else has bags. as far as the camera’s, they will not show the offenders letting their dogs poop on the streets, or in the alleys that I walk thru every day. I agree with Michael as far as these dogs need to be regulated. the North End is over run with dogs. Some people let them off leash in the gassy all the time. Even when little kids are playing. they let the dogs poop near the swings etc. too lazy to go up the NEW DOG PARK. The best are the people who take the time to pick up the poop, bag it, then just drop it on the sidewalk or street. what about the owners who let the dogs piss on everyone else’s building but their own. How do we stop that.

Enough is enough. Something needs to be done about these dogs because it is getting out of control. There is poop everywhere and no one picks it up. Now we have people having racial debates over dog poo? Give me a break!!! There needs to be some sort of regulations on this… I also agree with Joan Of Arc I am a landlord and I have cameras on my building that I got for short money and they work great. The landlords in this neighborhood want to suck the north end dry and charge people three thousand dollars for a space the size of closet and can’t spend a couple hundred on a camera?!?!?! DISGUSTING

Ok, you say your camera works great. So how does this lead to an apprehension. The camera shots that have been submitted to this journal haven’t lead to apprehension. Also the problem has always been worse during the winter. Dog owners seem to feel they can kick snow over the mess and make it go away. Gets really messy when the snow melts which could be days after the act. You have a behavior problem that has no enforcement solution.

I agree with T.Mobile: Cameras are not a practical solution. someone needs to be aware that an offense took place, locate it on stored footage and then go through the trouble of identifying or shaming the person. That is a staffing problem that is simply not practical with the 100s of buildings we are talking about and the relative seriousness of the issue at hand – at least not in today’s world.

MB Where there is a Will there is always a Way. Example: If you live across the street from me & we both have
cameras, if my camera doesn’t pick up the culprit, possibly your camera picks it up. This involves team work
amongst landlords. The biggest problem will be the Absentee Landlords. Will they cooperate? The City’s
job is to increase the fines so high, it may possibly make it more of a deterent. I personal think the Trash
Violators are more of a problem than Dog Crap.

I agree, Joan. Trash is a bigger problem and I feel that something fundamental has to change in the way the city handles it. Look at any city in Europe for examples of better solutions that don’t involve loose bags on the sidewalks multiple times a week. The other one is cars running red lights on a non-stop basis at every single red light. This is where cameras would help with automated ticketing. But I digress….those are off-topic and merit a new thread of their own 😉

how about trying to get the city to get a detail to walk the streets and issue citations when they see someone who doesn’t pick up after their dog. creat jobs by hiring animal control officers. The mayor and his underlings just gave themselves a raise, why not budget in some jobs. (not a shot by the way)I know we don’t even have a beat cop, but something needs to be done. Some advice is don’t even try to tell someone to pick up the dog crap unless you’re ready for a confrontation.

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